Junior School News and Information
Highlights from the Junior Resource Centre
Learning Enrichment Notices
Learning Support Notices
Junior Chess
Junior School Sport

PRAYER: If you watched the State of Origin game last Friday night you would have heard the word “spirit” tossed around as the commentators waxed lyrically about the determination and teamwork which produced such results. And while the word “spirit” is used freely to describe an essential ingredient in any sporting success we also apply it liberally to the achievements of graduating classes at the end of year or any activity that requires cooperation. Last weekend the Church also spoke rather freely about “spirit” as we celebrated Pentecost – the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples 50 days after the resurrection. For the “Holy Spirit” to be more than a sporting metaphor or a teamwork requirement it must somehow be real in our lives and an impact on our Church.

Pentecost enables us to recognize what is good, what is right, what is ethical, what is true and of lasting worth that guides us on our lives’ journey to God. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to recognise and celebrate our connectedness to God and to one another. So while we might have been taken by surprise at the results of the state of origin we should not be surprised at what the Holy Spirit is doing in our own lives and in our community.

And so we pray:-

May the Spirit bless us ...

May the face of all creation shine upon us ...

the grace of life be within our soul.

May we find in the eyes of a baby the light of truth ...

And in the branches of the trees, arms to hold us..

And in the warmth of sunshine be surrounded and caressed by gentle light of the moon ...

May our own heartbeat accompany us into fullness of life

And as our feet meet the earth

and as the wind caresses our face

be blessed with all of creation as one with God.

Amen.

Year 5 Mary MacKillop Place Excursion: On Wednesday 19 June Year 5 students will be going on an excursion to Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney. This excursion relates to the Year 5 Religious Education unit. The students will be travelling by train to North Sydney station and each student will need to have their own Youth Opal Card to travel on the train. They cannot use their Student Opal Card.

5 Blue and 5 Red students will attend their tour at 10.00 am and will return to SPX by 12.15 pm.
5 Gold students will attend their tour at 12.30 pm and will return to school by 2.45pm.

The students need to wear their normal winter uniform, school hat and bring a raincoat. We are looking forward to an inspiring and busy educational day. Thank you to Mr Carroll for his organisation of this excursion.

Photos: This Friday 14 June the boys will have their Class, Individual, Performing Arts and other Group Photos. They have been given an order form which needs to be completed and brought with them on Friday to give to the photographer. The form can also be found below. Please ensure your son’s hair is neat and shoes polished etc. Thank you.

SPORT: Please note changes regarding Dance and Sport in the next month:

Tomorrow, Thursday 13 June, we will leave school at 10.00 am and we will have a dance lesson but we will also do winter sports training. Boys will need their recess and lunch plus sports gear.
On 20 June we will leave at 9.00 am and the boys will have a dance lesson and winter sports training. Morning tea and lunch required.
On 27 June we will leave after recess. Parents are most welcome to attend the Dance Performance which will run from 12.45 till 1.20 pm. This will be followed by afternoon tea for the parents and then you are welcome to take your son home with you if you wish.

Junior School Athletics Carnival: The Bureau of Meteorology predicted the rain would lift in the morning but it did take a while so we started the day at Homebush with morning tea. It is always good to give boys sustenance. After that we were very fortunate for the sun to shine for a large portion of the day and were able to hold a successful carnival with the exception of the high jump. We will hold the high jump at Oxford Falls over the coming weeks and we will then be able to announce the age champions and the overall winning house. It is a very close carnival at the moment. A picture tells a thousand words so below you can find a few thousand words!

The Handball Champions: The Champion of Champions tournament was held last Friday for the Year 5 and the Year 6 Handball Champions. The determination and concentration the boys’ faces was fantastic. Now if we can just bottle this and have it at all times in the classroom! The final two boys for Year 5 were Ethan Fajemisin and Max Jammal.

Some important dates:

TERM 2

Friday 14 June - Photos / John Larkin Year 5.

Friday 21 June - SPX Rugby Dinner

Thursday 27 June - Term 2 Concludes

Friday 28 June – Years 5 to 10 Parent/Student/Teacher Interviews.

Please see booking information on the Teaching & Learning page of this newsletter.

TERM 3

Monday 22 July - Staff Development Day

Tuesday 23 July – Classes Resume/ 8am College Chapel Mass

Tuesday 6 August – Dr Martin Chatterton – Author visit.

Saturday 17 August – P&F Trivia night

Monday 19 August – Junior School Book Week begins

Tuesday 20 - Matt Lin, Artist - Illustrator - Designer for Book Week

Monday 26 August - Science Week begins

Tuesday 27 August – Rugby Presentation Night – Junior School commences at 6.00 pm/Senior School at 7.00pm

Thursday 29 August - Junior School Father & Son Day at Oxford Falls starts at 11.45am and concludes at 2.15pm. Dads and Grandads - keep the day free. Mums and Grandmothers are needed to assist Mr Long to cook a lot of sausages!

Wednesday 4 September – Football Presentation Night - Junior School commences at 6.00pm/Seniors at 7.00pm

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Highlights from the Junior Resource Centre

This week’s Highlights are:

BOOK WEEK 2019

In 2019, the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book Week theme is Reading is My Secret Power. Stories are powerful. The ability to read opens up the magical world of stories where the wondrous, impossible and magnificent can happen. The secret power of reading sometimes leads to the secret power of writing. And as any writer will tell you, nothing is more powerful and more fun than creating your own stories!

Photo below shows Noah MacAndrews Year 5 enjoying The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.

DISCOVER AN AUTHOR – FIND OUT THEIR SECRET POWER!

We are so lucky to have some of the best writers and illustrators of any country in the world living right here and creating magical worlds for us to explore. So, come in and trawl the shelves of the Junior School and Senior School library, ask friends for recommendations, scour bookshops and talk to Mrs Martin, Mrs Keighery and teachers about the authors they love.

When you find an author whose words or images speak to you, drop them a line and let them know how much their work inspires you. While you’re at it, ask them what they think their secret power is for writing and illustrating great stories.

This week Year 6 have discovered the author Tristan Bancks. We are also very fortunate to have Tristan visiting the school and speaking to Year 6 on 25 June 25 2019. He will be promoting his latest Book DETENTION. Due to be a best seller.

Mrs Martin’s Book Trail: Detention by Tristan Bancks.

Middle grade fiction (aged 10-14) popular at the moment and Aussie author Tristan Bancks is one of the best with bestselling titles such as The Fall and Two Wolves. Detention is destined to be another best seller. Bancks offers a duel character narrative. Sima has escaped from a detention centre. Her path crosses with wrong-side-of-the-tracks Dan. As the search for Sima escalates, Dan’s school goes into lockdown…. And Sima and Dan’s fates become entwined. Fast paced. Great characters. Authentic. Current.

Thumbs up once again Mr Bancks! #MrsMartinsbooktrail2019

Mrs Elena Martin - Junior Librarian

Junior Chess

This week all teams will be at HOME. Good luck to all our teams.

Please check the draw for further details.

Mrs Elena Martin - Junior School Chess Coordinator

Learning Enrichment Notices

IPSHA Junior School Debating: Congratulations to our debaters on yet another successful Round of the IPSHA competition last Friday against Abbotsleigh.

The Round 3 debate was on the challenging topic: “That parents should never feed their children junk food”. Both affirmative and negative teams were very well prepared, presented very convincing caselines with well researched arguments and engaged the audience. Well done on your efforts on both debates boys, and the commitment to debating training sessions.

The next debate we will be travelling to Pymble Ladies College Junior School on Friday 21st June, the debate begins at 1pm (TBC), parents are most welcome to attend.

Mrs Bettina Spanyik - Learning Enrichment Teacher

Learning Support

Junior Drop-In Service: The Junior School drop-in service runs on Friday mornings from 8.15am - 8.45am. This is a space for Year 5 and 6 boys to bring any questions or queries they may have with their work, ranging from assignments, revision of concepts, homework or to catch up on work they have missed out on. Please meet Mrs Barrett outside the Junior School resource room at 8.15am. Any queries, please contact bbarrett@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au

Sydney Therapy & Co: Sydney Therapy Company are continuing to conduct assessments as needed. Please complete the documents below and register your interest with Mrs Gunns if you would like your son to be booked for an assessment.

Please email agunns@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au to register interest in an opportunity to improve hand writing skills. This is an invitation for any student, Year 5 –Year 12. The only ingredient required is motivation to improve. Please refer to https://sydneytherapyco.com.au/

Sydney Therapy & Co will come to St Pius to conduct assessments to reach a starting point for goals.

Cost is $195 (normally $425). Then ongoing, the students can access one on one or small group therapy.

One on one - $140
Group of three - $69 for 45 min
Pair group - $69 for 30 min

There would be a commitment to a block of therapy as guided by the assessment outcomes. All teaching will be conducted at SPX before or after school.

Ms Annabel Gunns - Learning Support & Enrichment Coordinator

Junior Sport

Thursday Sport: at Oxford Falls with a combined Dance/Sport focus. Students will do a session of each therefore winter training gear for Rugby and Football is required. Note the early departure and need for a packed lunch for the next two Thursdays.

Dance: Our Dance program continues this week and is integrated with our Thursday sport program of winter training. Please note the amendments to travel times in the table above. On the early departure days, boys will require a packed lunch. The cost of the 4 week program is $30 and will be charged to Term 3 Fees. Parents are warmly invited to attend from 12.45pm on Thursday 28 June for our Final Performance. Afternoon Tea will be served from 1.30pm.

Athletics Carnival: Well, it took a scheduled Athletics Carnival to bust the drought in style. Despite the inclement weather our students did a great job competing in the adapted program. They lost none of their competitive spirit and must be commended for the manner they competed and supported each other throughout the day. We managed to run all our track races and most of our field events. I sincerely thanks the parental supporters who braved the wintry weather, particularly those who generously assisted in the running of the Carnival.

We will run our high jump qualifying at school on Wednesday 12 June and then complete our competition on Thursday 13 June at Sport. Upon completion of the final events we will announce our Age Champions, Athletics Squad and overall House Champions for 2019.

Rugby

SPX RUGBY CLUB DINNER - Friday 21 June - Roseville Golf Club - Book your tickets now!!!

Dear SPX Rugby Parents,

The SPX Rugby Supporters' Club Annual Dinner is only 10 days away - to be held from 7pm on Friday 21 June at the Roseville Golf Club. Come and enjoy a great night of fun and entertainment and help raise funds for our rugby playing sons. The link below will take you directly to the Trybooking Ticketing Site:

https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=502134&.

Our MC for the evening will be former Wallaby, Fox Sports personality and St Pius parent, Rod Kafer, with former Australian Wallaby hooker and current Head of Marketing and Digital with the ARU, Mr Adam Freier as our Special Guest Speaker. For further details see the flyer below.

Support your sons. Enjoy a great night out.

We look forward to seeing you at the SPX Rugby Dinner!

Paul O’Neill (on behalf of the SPX Rugby Supporters’ Club Committee)

Tel: 0418-634750

Junior Rugby Fixtures Saturday 15 June

Mr Greg Virgona - Junior School Sportsmaster

Junior Football: Our season resumes this weekend. Please be at the ground half an hour before the scheduled kick-off. Please note the times for the Preps.

Mr Paul Cummins - Junior Football Convenor

Holiday Soccer Camp 3-5 July

Save the Date - booking details available next week.

Teaching & Learning

Years 5 to 10 Parent Teacher Meetings

Friday 28 June - 8.00am to 6.00pm